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>> and now "bbc world news." >> hello and welcome to news on the bbc. i am in singapore. >> i am in london. here are the headlines. a passenger ferry with 350 people on board has sunk off the coast of papua, new guinea. >> bitter rivalry has turned deadly in egypt. 9 fans are killed, more than 1,000 are injured. >> the u.s. hopes troops can end their combat role in afghanistan. facebook could be valued as high as $100 billion. it is 12:00 noon here in singapore. >> 4:00 a.m. in london. broadcast on pbs and around the world, this is news day.

>> welcome once again. we have breaking news from papua, new guinea, because we have heard as we have been reporting that a ferry carrying 350 people has sunk off papua, new guinea's eastern coast. the operator of the ferry is a company called star shims. it lost contact with its ship after it sent a distress signal. earlier i spoke to captain noraramon with the mayor tile safety authority and he told me about that. >> it is thought to have supping. there are people floating around with their life jackets around the area of the casualty. we have mustered four merchant vessels around the area, and they are engaged in rescue

operations. >> so how many people were on board? we are reporting it could have been as many as 300. >> that is the guest because the ferry has a capacity of around that figure. i can't tell you off hand without seeing the records. however, i haven't got anything in concrete like the passenger manifest to confirm the numbers. but it would be close to that number. >> do you know why the vessel sunk? what details do you know about the distress signal that was extent? >> it is very early now. the distress signal which was received initially by the rescue coordination center in australia, it was an what we call epirb, emergency position indicating radio beacon. this goes off when the vessel is in distress. it doesn't actually explain what sort of a distress it is. it only says that the vessel is

in distress. >> and what sort of equipment would the ferry have had in case of an emergency like this? >> well, the ferry as in international shipping conditions would have life jackets, life rafts and safety gear in conformity with international standards. >> joining me is our correspondent, duncan kennedy. any more details on the very latest regarding the rescue operation? >> we have no more figures other than what has just been given. 28 survivors picked out of the water. four merchant vessels on-site helping with the rescue operation. the australians have also sent in an recon sanls plane to overlook the -- reconnaissance plane to overlook the area. this happened seven, eight or nine hours ago in what is a

busy shipping lane. but yes, as you said there, the prime minister at a press conference did mention this. she said this was, in her words, a major tragedy, and there was likely to be a high loss of life. it is not clear if the prime minister's office has more information than that given to the media, but she felt compelled to say something. there are no reports so far of any australians being involved in this ferry accident. it is a place just north of australia in new guinea, frequented by many, many australians for holiday and business purposes. but at the moment, there are no signs of any australians on this ferry. as we heard from the captain, there are reports of in life jackets, reports of people being picked up out of the water. just the sheer numbers involved

in what could have been as reports say was rough weather suggests this is a major rescue operation. we have to say at the moment, no casualty figures to report. just the rescue figures reported by the captain and others at the scene. >> thank you for the update. at least 79 people have been killed in clashes between football fans in cairo. the home team fans of al-masry rushed on to the field to sell operate vare victory. >> it is egypt he is worst football disaster at a time when the country is already in a political turmoil. the deadly clashes between these bitter football rifles have shaken this country to the core. >> it all started at the final whistle. fans of the team in port said streamed on the egypt to celebrate a victory against

al-ahly. first, the al-ahly players had to run for their lives. and then the home fans charged in to charge the visiting supporters. this is not football. this is war said one of the al-ahly players. was this what sparked it? egyptian tv keeps replaying this picture of fans throwing flares just at the moment that a goal is being scored. these two sets of fans are known for their bitter rivalry and their use of violence. there are questions also about the role of the police. the live television footage shows them hesitating, clearly unable to control the situation. or was there an element of politics? the al-ahly fans, known as ultras have often been in the forefront of confrontations with police in the last year.

on social media they are asking was someone out to get revenge. as the trouble erupted in port said, a fire also broke out at a cairo football stadium, in what may already be a sign that violence is escalating. >> where are the security forces. where are the police? you cannot call this a game of football. if you go anywhere else in the world, london, you wouldn't see 71 dead. >> in port said, reports suggest that ambulances had trouble getting access to the stadium. many of the victims were killed in a stampede to leave the arena. tonight, egypt's military has ordered two helicopters to help fans and players return home. everyone fears a new round of violence on the streets at an already tense time. >> he used to play with al-ahly

as a teenager, and he believes the violence was not spontaneous. >> what you see happened, and with the history between the two teams there, is much. what happened, nobody accepted it, and nobody believed it would happen. they hadn't beat yauferyaufer in 48 years. suddenly they won. they should have been happy. in winning 3-1, and still want to kill the players and the fans. this is something like they were planning before the match. it was not by luck or by chance like this. security like opened the gates for the fans. security would not be defense for anybody, just watching what happened.

this happened for different reasons. in my opinion, showing what is happening with the revolution in egypt, not giving the people the safety they look for. they want to give a message that is hard now. you can't do anything safe. the people who died -- some people died by shooting, guns, and knives. a lot of fans threw things. it was like war. >> why could the security forces in the stadium not stop this? there were even calls before the match for before supporters to stay calm. >> this is a mob. one week they were planning for

it, and when you speak, they thought everything was under control. after the match, nothing was under control. nothing. for the host team to come over, the people stopped them. they wouldn't let them save the people. one hour, the ambulance couldn't come over. so people dying in the changing rooms. it is a very bad situation in the changing room. two people died. some children were missing. one father was crying and begging the players, i lost my child. where is my child? >> he was speaking from cairo.

the u.s. defense secretary says he homes the u.s. can end their combat role by next year. that is 18 months before it is due to end. he wanted u.s. forces to switch from fighting to providing training than assistance for afghan forces by mid to late 2013. steve kingston has more details. >> i think it is an aspiration rather than concrete policy from washington at this point. he is signaling the way the americans see it right now. what you will recall is back in november of 2010, nato signed up to keeping troops in afghanistan through the end of 2014. the defense secretary is not triten to shorten that base baseline in any way, but he is spelling out what will happen between now and then. specifically he is suggesting that american combat operations in afghanistan could end sometime between the middle and

end of next year. so up to 18 months ahead of schedule they move to an advise /assist and train role as he put it. and obviously it will depend on how things go in the intervening time. potentially we are at a point where the afghan government is going to start talking to the taliban, and they will look at the fighting on a province by province basis. the timing is obvious. it is signaled by the white house in an lexi year, and they are saying the fighting is soon going to end. >> they have dismissed a secret nato report that alleges her country is supporting the taliban in afghanistan. the report says they are receiving direct help from the pakistani security forces and that the taliban has widespread support among the afghan people. it was based on the

interrogations of 4,000 captured taliban and al qaeda supporters. >> a man with more than 30,000 facebook friends has a bigger announcement. rico? >> thank you so much. he has more than me. the world's largest social networking site has announced plans for a stock market for place. it is expected to raid $500 million. >> call it the facebook phenomenon. in eight years, mark zuckerberg and friends turned a harvard start-up into a social networking sensation. the story begins in a university bedroom in 2004. it has now got more than 800 million users. profits last year of $1 billion. advertising is the secret of facebook's financial success.

it sells information about its users to other companies. >> information such as their interests, what kind of music they like, what kind of tv programs they are into or the sports they play. this is all information they put on their facebook page, and we are able to use this to make advertising more targeted to them. >> on the market, facebook is likely to be worth the same as mcdonald's, more than disney and about twice as much as nike. the shares will be in big demand, giving facebook a whole new set of friends. "bbc news." >> you are watching news on the bbc live from singapore and lyndon. still to come on the program, a bbc investigation into human trafficking uncovers more than 30 british victims in sweden. >> he has been released from

jail after serving half of his six-month sentence. the 19-year-old who admitted doing nobals was one of three sentenced. they are serving five-year bans from all cricket. the sentence of the men murdering lawrence the same. they are not sending it to the court of appeal to determine whether they were unduly lenient. the family of amy winehouse is reportedly seeking legal advice after the resignation of the coroner who oversaw the investigation into the death. she had not been a registered lawyer in the u.k. for the required five years.

>> this is news day on bbc. i am in singapore. >> and i am in london. these are the headlines. a passenger ferry carrying 350 people on board has sunk off the coast of papua, new guinea. >> at least 79 fans have been killed and more than 1,000 injured at a futbol match in egypt. the violence began after the home team won and fans invaded the pitch. four british men have admitted plotting to detonate a bomb at the london stock exchange. they were a group of nine who pleaded guilty to terrorism offenses. >> they plotted to strike at the core of the country's financial sector, the london stock exchange, an international symbol of the economic power. the men had considered other possible targets, big ben and

the london eye, two of the landmarks on a reconnaissance mission they carried out. these are the plotter. all four are brit ands. this is the linchpin of the group. the two other guilty men are brothers. they are from c amp rdiff. at the flat, police found a cashe of incriminating evidence. >> inside the flat was a handwritten list. on that list were the names and addresses of the mayor of london and two rabbis, as well as the words american embassy and the initials l.x.c., which it is said stood for the london stomach exchange. >> on computer there was this

extremely went. >> they were targeting iconic buildings, and they were trying to frighten people, make them reluctant to go out and perhaps take some life as well. >> with the guilty men, others have admitted other terrorism charges. as the men moved around the country linking up, they were constantly under surveillance. in this parking lot cardiff came their first significant meeting. the police service was watching their every move. the young men whose inspraugs was said to lie thousands of miles away. >> now dead, then the leading figure in al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. he had called on western

muslims to attack their home countries. >> although some of the men had heeded his message and chosen a target, they hadn't actually made a bomb. but they were intent on bricking terror and fear back to the u.k. they will be sentenced next week. june kelly, "bbc news." >> criminal gangs are linked to some british and irish families have been abducting british men, forcing them to work as slaves. our correspondent reports from sweden. >> this is the harbor, a key gateway to southern sweden. i am here to meet a british man who arrived in the country on a similarry icy day. >> there were piles of snow on the ground. it was cold, foggy and windy. >> he has asked not to be identified for his safety.

they were promised good pay. in reality they were forced to work like slaves. for their bosses, sweden represented rich pickings. >> they had heard from relatives that this part of the world was an easy place to make a lot of money quickly. >> the three british men lived in this cramped caravan. they worked 14-hour days tarmacing driveways for little or no pay. until the police offered help, they were too frightened to escape. >> i have seen people threatened with shovels and pick axes. i have seen people kicked, punched. i have never been pushed off of the side of a moving vehicle. it is very tense and i are waiting for something else to happen. >> what would happen when you arrived in an area like this? >> you are told to knock on the door of every house on the street. >> there have been investigations in at least six european countries into

tarmacing gangs who have picked british men off the streets, taken them abroad and forced them to work in appalling conditions. each of the cases we have heard has involved gangs linked to large traveler families. this is highly lucrative. a swedish police report written in 2009 made a conservative estimate that the six or seven families doing this sort of work would have made three million pounds in a year. they believe these cases are just the tip of the iceberg. >> this kind of exploitation and human trafficking is slavery. it is very profitable. it carries low risks because very few perpetrators have been brought to justice. it is a way of exploiting people who are vulnerable and who cannot stand up for their rights. in an economic crisis, it is

increasingly easy to find these kind of people. >> back in the u.k., this family knows the full cost of such scomployation. their 22-year-old son oliver died in a suspicious caravan fire in sweden in 2005. his parents believed his exploiters would hurt them if they tried to leave. >> he was intimidated, beaten up, put in hospital and kept as a virtual slave and prisoner. he feared for our safety, and it cost him his life. that is a hero, isn't it? >> the traveler community said it condemns absolutely slavery enforced labor, and if individuals are suspected, they should face the full force of the law. the government said it is working with countries like sweden to tackle exploitation. "bbc news." >> a new report has slammed the sale of forests and other prime

land in africa often to developers, saying it is one of the biggest causes of civil unrest and yict on the cont inept. the study says african governments and investors need to respect and protect the rights of those who work 0 or live on the land. our correspondent has more. >> hard pressed communities struggling to eak out a living in a harsh unforgiving landscape, in this case, north west africa. the climate change threatens more of them. and the food insecurity and the poverty that goes along with it. as many would see it, it powerfully makes the case for encouraging much more agricultural investment in africa, neglected for far too long. and in the last two years that investment has been increasing rapidly. here in saddam b.a.e., bidders compete for land.

this report says 2/3 of all the land and resources investors are acquiring in the global land rush are in subsharron -- subis a heroin a.f.c. -- africa. the government signed deals for control of 9% of the new nation's lands even before its independence. it argues that they respect their customary land rights to be recognized. anything less could jeopardize the already fragile peace. the report is that foreign investors have been able to snap up some of south africa's valuable resources because most customary land is so weakly protected. while indigenous communities are generally not opposed to

economic development, conditions are right for potential new conflict. they have warned investors they have much to lose as well as gain. "bbc news." >> new rules restricting the carrying of firearms have come into force in colombia, in bogota. only police and private military firms are allowed to carry guns. the bogota new mayor has introduced the ban in the hopes of lowering the murder rate. >> you have been watching news day from bbc. i am in singapore. >> i am in london. our main news this hour, a ferry with possibly 350 passengers on board has sunk off the coast of papua, new guinea. a spokesman for the national maritime authority in new guinea says four rescue vessels are involved in the search and rescue operation. 28 survivors so far have been picked up by one of those vessels. thanks for watching.

>> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation and union bank. >> at union bank our relationship managers work hard to understand the industry you operate in. working to nurture new ventures and help provide capital for key strategic decisions. we offer expertise and tailored solutions in a wide range of industries. what can we do for you

>> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet, los angeles.